The Gazetteer to Eilean Dubh: The Black Isle (A Free Crowd-sourced Fantasy Sandbox Setting)

I'm sitting here at my desk, simply amazed at what I am looking at. I had this silly little vision, this idea of crowd-sourcing a sandbox setting. What you see now is so beyond that vision I had. My touch on this is small, I got the ball rolling and then work threw me a curve ball that caught me off balance until retirement. A HUGE thank you to Milton Murphy for taking over the reins of the project. A better project manager you couldn't find. A shout out to Jed McClure, for putting the pieces together as you see here. Of course, thanks to all that contributed. I am forever in your debt.  Erik Tenkar

The Gazetteer to Eilean Dubh: The Black Isle Free Download Link:
tenkars-tavern.games/TheBlackIsle

List of Contributors:

Jason Barker
Frabrice Brabon
David Brawley
Hal Burdick
Blackie Carbon
John Ivor Carlson
Ray Chapel
Ian Christy
Dirk Collins
Alasdair Cunningham
Carlos de la Cruz
Mike ‘Carlson’ Davis?
Thomas Drevon
Charley Phipps, aka Druvas
Andrew C. Durston
Kyrinn S. Eis
Pehl Ferebas
Follow Me And Die!
Simon Forester
Pat G
Owen Gannon
Tim Groth
Dale Houston
Malcolm Iggleden
Ed Kann
Fred Liner
Jonathan Linneman
Stephen Manuele
Jed McClure
Duncan McPhedran
Milton Murphy
James Patterson
Benoist Poiré
Michael Prescott
Doyle Wayne Ramos-Tavener
Doug Rector
Content Statement
Jason Reilly
Rorschachhamster aka Christian Sturke
Matthew Ruane
Charles Saeger
Lorenzo Santini
Andrew Schwartz
Alan Skinner
Brett Slocum
Chris Stieha
Christian Sturke
Chris Tamm
Erik Tenkar
V.A
Josephe Vandel
Pieter T. “Viking”
Alex Welk
Benjamin Wenham
Chris Wellings

Name That Island! (Tenkar's Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Setting)

Way back in early October I played around with opening up a small sandbox setting i had mapped out using Hexographer to the community based here at The Tavern. I figured if a dozen folks decided to work on bits and pieces it would be a success.

Six weeks and 128 G+ Community members later, The Tenkar's Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Setting has literally exploded beyond my wildest dreams.

I am forever in the debt of +Milton Murphy and all the other 126 members of the community (128 less Milton and myself ;)

In any case, we did a huge poll on the G+ Community side and whittled the list of possible names of the main island of the setting down to these six:

Garacos

Scarlet Coast

Dun Halden

Eilean Dubh (Black Isle)

Tangrell Island

Windbreak Isle

When the setting gets released to the gaming community at large, it will under the name that is picked via the poll in the upper right hand corner of this page. The poll will be open for a week.

Here's your chance to have a part in naming a setting. How cool is that? :)

Tenkar's Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Setting has Over 90 Community Members

Yep, Tenkar's Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Setting has over 90 community members and over 50 hexes claimed.

In a week.

With some hexes already being detailed.

F'n amazing.

I'd like to publicly thank everyone that's participating in the crowdsourcing but especially +Milton Murphy , who quickly stepped up to help keep the herd of cats orderly. Everyone participating in the project, myself included, are in your debt.

I'm now in the second half of a four day weekend and I expect to finally expect to catch up on the hex entries from the last few days, sinus congestion from hell willing. The progress is amazing and I thank you all.

Free Land Available at the Tenkar's Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Setting Community Page on G+

This weekend we opened the door to folks so they could start claiming hexes in the Tenkar's Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Setting. A dozen and a half hexes have been laid claim to so far and there are many more looking for a good owner ;)

In all seriousness, I'm really stoked by the enthusiastic reaction to this crowdsourced project - by the community, for the community.

Once things really start moving full swing, I expect much of the project will move over to Obsidian Portal, but at this early stage of the game, a G+ community does us fine.

The Tenkar's Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Setting currently stands at 49 members and growing. Not bad for something that kicked off on October 8th. Join us and you too can have the fate of a 6 mile hex in your hands...

Do You Use Local Superstitions in Your Campaigns?

For the Halloween episode of The Brainstorm Podcast, the plan is to cover the topic of
"Superstitions" in campaign use. This means we are probably recording this episode next Tuesday night.

Now, I could rack my brain thinking up a handful of superstitions that would be handy to drop in game, but I figure it's more fun to have my readers help. So, hear's what I'm going to do with you:

- Add a superstition or three to the comment section below this blog post before midnight, Saturday, October 11th, 2014

- Listen to the Halloween episode of The Brainstorm Podcast soon after it goes live to the masses. If you hear your submitted superstition mentioned AND are one of the first two to comment that you heard your superstition mentioned (comment on this same here post) on the podcast, I'll send a $10 RPGNow gift certificate your way.

Pretty simple, right?

In any case, I'll put all submitted superstitions into a numbered table for random superstition generation (to be posted both here on the blog and downloadable at the Brainstorm Podcast website) and will also suggest it as a source of inspiration for the Tenkar's Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Project

Those That Came Before - Previous Civilizations on Tenkar's Landing

The island referred to as "Tenkar's Landing", named for it's main commerce and shipping center, was colonized about 200 years ago by the unnamed (and now fallen) empire to the north. There were few indigenous humans, demihumans or humanoids on the island at the time of colonization, and those that were there hadn't established any types of civilization larger than the occasional hamlet or forts built by adventuring types.

There were, however, civilizations that had existed hundreds of years prior.

The first of these was more advanced than the current technology level - think renaissance or possibly even steam punk. They used constructs to dig deep underground and occasionally built above ground, and the remains of the above ground towers and such can be seen in The Ruins of Azagath. What brought an end to them is unknown, but Azagath is a cursed place with craters, leaning towers and mutated creatures roaming the ruins.

The second race would be very similar to Picts, a tribe that came from the far west. They settled the island, mostly avoiding the north, and their burial cairns dot the island. Some conceal the entrance to a single chamber, others are many rooms and many levels deep. Only a handful have been fully explored and many of these cairns are rumored to be trapped or cursed. In some places, the stones no longer mark the entrance to the burial chambers below.

(that should be a decent enough background seed for others to work off of)

"Tenkar's Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Project" G+ Community Goes Live (ish)!

I've had a few requests to open up the G+ Community for the Tenkar's Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Project for those that can't wait for the weekend when I hope to have all my ducks in a row.

So, it's open. Use the link above and ask to join. I'll approve you as quickly as I can.

For now we are going to use Swords & Wizardry as the base ruleset, if for no other reason than it uses both ascending and descending AC in it's stat block which gives us basic compatibility with all of the core clones. Whitebox, Core or Complete - use what you want. That being said, the less crunch used, the better. This is, of course, subject to change at the will of the community.

I'll need to work on the other core deity, quick write up of the native population, 30 second history and a bit more on the Town of Tenkar's Landing itself. Then the true creativity, that of the community, begins.

Oh, and start assigning hexes. That won't happen until this weekend. (those that made requests in mid September will have until the 15th of October to confirm)

Of Gods and Men - Religion in "Tenkar's Landing" - Part 1

I'm thinking of using two established churches in the setting of Tenkar's Landing (and of course there are other religions in Tenkar's Landing, just not established.)

Probably the most influential, especially on the north side of the island, will be the Church of Bazadan, "The Just One". Initially brought to the island when it was a colony of "The Empire", it is now a separate church with it's own hierarchy from that of it's "parent" church. In the remains of the empire, the Church of Bazadan is referred to as "The Hand of Justice."

Clergy are known as "The Just Ones" or "The Hands", mostly by the average peasant and town folk, and nothing is quite as exciting as watching a "Hand" disembark from a merchant ship in Tenkar's Landing coming to blows with the local "Just Ones." "Hands" and "Just Ones" see the other as heretics.

The "Just Ones" are invariably armed with long sword and shield, and their shields are usually painted with a fist holding a sword upright. The "Hands" usually wield maces, but have been known to wield other weapons that have been bloodied in previous battle but now deceased heroes of the faith.

On the island and in the remains of the empire, Bazadan is worshiped, or at least prayed to on occasion, by members of the military, mercenaries, town guard and watch and the nobility. His name is invoked prior to any trial to ensure that justice is the final result.

From a rule perspective, "Just Ones" are required to wield long swords. They also find it difficult to lie, preferring silence to intentional deception.

Next up will be a nature god of sorts...

And Now a Different Version of the "Tenkar's Landing" Area Map

I had totally forgotten that +Michael Garcia had this map done for an uncompleted project we had been working on. The artist goes by the name "Diamond". Literally, that is all we know besides his statement "I release it to the public domain."

I guess this was the first donation to the crowdsourced project ;)

So, we have two versions of the map to work from.

I still need to settle on a scale...

Latest on "Tenkar's Landing" Crowdsourced Sandbox Project

My goal is to open up the "Tenkar's Landing" Crowdsourced Sandbox Project next weekend to those that wish to participate. I know some folks have already stated an interest in certain hexes, and my plan is to grant the wishes of those that have shown such an interest in advance.

The idea is that the island that the project takes place on can be dropped into most campaign settings with little issues, so I'm avoiding things like pantheons and I am describing the off map areas as declining empires / smaller kingdoms to explain why the island is "mostly" left along by outside political forces.

No, I haven't named the island, but that's okay, as I suspect it will be known under a few names in any case.

There will be a G+ Community for the project for those that want to participate in it and share ideas. You do not have to participate in the community to participate in the project - it will be there for those that want it, nothing more or less.

At this point I'm trying to decide if we should go systemless or use one of the OSR Rulesets as a base. Heh, maybe that should be a discussion for the G+ Community when it goes live ;)

How Big Should the Sandbox Be?

I've written about this on the blog before, but the forthcoming "Tenkar's Landing" crowdsourced project has got me thinking about it again - how big does your sandbox need to be?

What I like about the island that Tenkar's Landing rests upon is that it is limited in scope - about 65 miles long and 15 miles wide on average. Assuming 6 miles from center to center of each hex it puts the total land mass at just under 1000 square miles. That's a lot of exploring.

Can the party leave the island? Sure. Tenkar's Landing is a trading port after all. I do have much of the surrounding area mapped too (but have few if any plans to detail just yet). Hopefully the players and their characters will find enough excitement on the island to occupy themselves for a good long time.

Crowdsourcing the sandbox of Tenkar's Landing should be an interesting experiment. An island with the ruins of an extinct advanced civilization colonized by a now failing empire to be detailed by a dozen or two creative types from the OSR community. I may want to be a player in the resulting sandbox...

So, how large a sandbox do you like for your campaigns and why?

* note - this will be a crowdsourced project, not a crowdfunded project. By the community, for the community.

It Looks Like the "Tenkar's Landing" Crowdsourced Project Will be a "GO"

There appears to be enough interest in giving the Tenkar's Landing crowdsourced project a shot. So, here's where we stand:

- I HOPE to have this kick off at the beginning of October. No guarantees. Work has been a summer of hell. Let's see how fall falls into place.

- We need a better name than "Tenkar's Landing" for the island. Tenkar's Landing is just the major town / port. It was a colony of a trading nation that is now a failed nation. The town itself is self sufficient and has a relatively strong mercantile influenced government.

- There are remains of an advanced civilization long passed scattered around the island. At a certain point, magic and technology are indistinguishable - that is the case here.

- There are no traditional native human / demihuman communities. All are immigrants from elsewhere. Aside from Tenkar's Landing there are some small scattered hamlets / enclaves.

- Hexes are either 5 or 6 miles across. Not a huge difference, but we'll figure it out in the next few weeks.

- Hexes 1214 and 1314 are desert with obsidian shards and strange ruins scattered about. Magical or nuclear devastation, to be decided. Strange beasts abound.

- Hex 1213 is broken mountains and craters.

- Dungeons, Castles, Towers, Ruins indicated are those that are commonly known. East of the river near Thocar's Castle is hardly explored.

- Some folks have requested hexes already. I'll do my best to honor those.

- I'll probably open up a G+ community page and a Obsidian Portal page when it gets closer to going live.

- There is no default system, but as I'd like this to be usable with everything from S&W and LL to the DCC RPG and everything in between, the less system stats the better.

- Figure a sandbox for levels 1-8 or thereabouts.

Alright, back to catching up on some 1500+ pieces of email

Idle Thought's of Tenkar's Landing - Crowdsourcing a Small Sandbox

I was working on this sandbox way back in the spring of 2013 and aside from the maps and a few notes, I've done nothing with it. Stuff got put to the side and the plate can only hold so much.

I got to thinking about Tenkar's Landing again last week, but the plate these days is so much smaller and it's stacked so high I can't see much of what is on it anymore. I want to get some use out of this as I do like the map (used Hexographer for those that are curious.)

So, my idle thought is this - crowdsourcing the development of the island. Give my readers a hex (5 or 6 miles across per hex - it's not a huge sandbox but as I have the surrounding area mapped, it is expandable) each and let them have at it and see what the end result is. I'd keep hex 1311 for myself, of course ;)

As I said, and idle thought, and even at that, I'd still need the time to set things up and organize it. Consider this post a simple gauging of interest into the concept of passing out the 30 some odd hexes on the island and the dozen and a half that are on the map but across the waters.

Played With Hexographer This Evening and Here's The Results

Not bad for screwing around with a program and not reading how to make it work ;)

I like the way it came out. I'm thinking the island in the lower center would be where the party would start out. It limits their ability to go all screwy on me before they level up a bit.

I need to add a crapload of locations, populations, sites of interest and the like but it's a damn good start for less than 2 hrs work.

I may also change around some of the terrain, but that's neither here nor there at the moment - I need something to work from and I'm surprised at how quickly it came together.

Definitely for the Crypts & Things Campaign, so any empires are in decline. I see it more city-states and less nations, but who knows as it get's fleshed out.

I'm going to give Hexographer "Two Thumbs Up!", because if it can make my mapping look decent, it's got to be an amazing program ;)

I'm leaning towards 6 miles per hex, which makes the initial island roughly 15-20 miles wide and 65 miles long. Decent sized area to adventure in I think. A "sandbox with walls" for the early levels.